In the past, we’ve discussed some of the many reasons to avoid a payday loan. While it’s easy to focus on the financial impact –primarily the high interest rate – there’s something else to think about: the emotional toll this relationship can take on your life.
To start, borrowing from a loan shark can result in a cycle that’s not always difficult to break. You tell yourself you’re only taking out a single loan, but soon enough you’re coming back for more.
Here’s what we had to say about this in a past article:
“You take out a payday loan with the idea that you’ll never do so again. However, you soon find that it’s difficult to escape. Here’s why: you may not be able to repay the loan on the due date,meaning it costs you more money in fees. This leads to your debt dragging on for much longer than expected.”
When you slip into this cycle it’ll begin to weigh you down.
Here are a couple other things to keep in mind:
- Fear of higher rates and fees in the future. Forexample, if you miss a payment, you have to concern yourself with extremelyhigh fees, often accompanied by an interest rate hike.
- Fear of violence. This isn’t something you ever have to worry about when borrowing from a traditional lender. However, when borrowing from a loan shark, it’ll always be in the back of your mind. You never know if you’ll make a mistake that leads to a violent or aggressive encounter.
The emotional impact of borrowing from a loan shark is very real. If you don’t think about this upfront, you could go down a dark path that adds quite a bit of stress to your life.
Do you have any experience borrowing money from a loan shark? What was the emotional impact on your life?